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On Entrepreneurship

No, I’m not sure President-elect Trump – I have to get used to saying that! – is the greatest entrepreneur, and I don’t propose that we examine how he built a real estate empire to get some tips as would-be entrepreneurs. Rather, his surprise US Presidential election victory is worth…

How should an enterprise evolve – what are its responsibilities – when it’s closely associated with a part of quotidian life? For example, today, it’s hard to dissociate coffee in many countries from the ubiquitous Starbucks store. Or, if you’re looking for information about just-about-anything, you go to a search…

Robots are in the air, well, literally. All the press is full of discussions of aerial drones to address last mile delivery challenges, championed by the likes of Amazon, trying to think through the practicalities and regulatory aspects of using drones thus. In this post I discuss some ways in which entrepreneurs…

I’ve just immersed myself during the last month in the dense entrepreneurial hotspots of Shenzhen and Bangalore, so I thought I’d offer some comparisons. I’ll comment on the extent of government support, the role of science, and the sorting of human capital in China and India more generally. Shenzhen is…

Two years have elapsed under Indian Prime Minister Modi’s administration. This anniversary has been greeted by a flurry of commentary – on many aspects of legislative strategy, muscular diplomacy, and its penchant for branded programs – and of course by the administration’s own celebratory interim-victory-lap. But I’ll concern myself only…

I’m going to take the perspective of someone trying to build a business based on novel science (as opposed to the effects of science on a more, shall we say, mainstream business). This is hugely important for emerging markets, where generally the attention to science is still minuscule, and where the…

Why should entrepreneurs care about the public discourse? Are they not meant to put their noses to the proverbial grindstone, work at their chosen passions, and leave high-minded discourse to pundits and policymakers? Largely, in my Boston home, I’d say yes, they can get away with not bothering with public…

The title of this post might sound absurd. If you’re newly off the blocks, chomping at the bit to get started on your new venture, have lined up a prototype, done enough rudimentary tests to convince yourself that it works, and need the money to fuel subsequent growth, the last…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just launched the Start-up India scheme, first alluded to on Independence Day last year. In the interim five months, the aspiration, the reality and the stretch goal of this initiative have been coming into focus. First, the aspiration. As several entrepreneurs said at the event, we should…

Axilor, now a year old in Bangalore, is dedicated to translating ideas into enterprise, fast. Of course, the world seems awash in ideas. Whether you access your information individually glued to your mobility device or tête-à-tête with like-minded souls, or consume it through video, audio or old-fashioned text, the challenge…